Tips for cleaning leather furniture

If you have leather furniture at home or are planning on purchasing leather upholstery, it is important you know how to care for leather furniture. Leather furniture not only brings a rich look and feel to your living space, it also lasts long and wears in, compared to fabric furniture, which wears out with time. Also, contrary to popular belief, it is not hard to care for, if you’re following the right leather furniture care advice. The following tips will tell you the best way to care for leather furniture- while most of it can be done by you at home, fiercely stubborn stains that refuse to go away may need the attention of a professional leather specialist. Another word of advice, if you have pets at home, don’t panic- you can still go in for leather furnishings, without the risk of damage- simply select protected leather for your furniture, that has an extra finish applied to it. That should be enough to protect your precious furniture from pets (unless, of course they chew or bite into it!)

Leather Furniture Care and Maintenance

These five leather furniture cleaning tips are like standing instructions for all times:

Under normal usage, dusting the sofa with a piece of dry cloth and vacuum cleaning along the crevices and corners or bottoms is all you need to do as part of regular maintenance.

It is recommended that you use a good leather conditioner at intervals of six months to a year.

Protect leather upholstery from direct sunlight. Like any other upholstery, exposure to direct sunlight causes leather furniture to fade away to some extent.

It is generally recommended that you should not use regular soaps or detergents to clean leather upholstery. Also, never use too much water or get your sofa too wet in the process of cleaning.

Always clean in a small, inconspicuous area of your sofa first to check whether your cleaning method suits your piece of furniture. There are different types of leather furniture and each type is different from the other.

Other household tips for cleaning leather furniture

For light spots or minor spills, use a neat absorbent cloth or sponge to wipe off any excess liquid. You may also lightly moisten a soft cloth in clear lukewarm water and use it to wipe the stain off- then allow it to air dry.

If you happen to spill oil, grease or butter, just wipe off the excess, and leave it for sometime- the spot will dissipate on its own after some time.

For ink stains, use a cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol to clean the area and dry off with a blow dryer. In case the stain is too stubborn, use a non-gel, non-oily cuticle emover, leave overnight and wipe off with a damp cloth.

The old adage- “A stitch in time saves nine” is true of leather furniture. The earlier you treat spills and stains, the easier it is clean them off and maintain your leather upholstery. As already mentioned, if the stains persist, get help from a furniture cleaning professional.